Welcome to the Wheel
by alannalynn
Summary: Allyson Susan Smith has found herself transported to the Third Age, somewhere in the Wetlands. How will she cope?


Disclaimer: I do not own WoT. This is NOT a Randland Wheel of Time fic, it is extremely NOT canon, extremely NOT meant to fit into anything to do with Rand al'Thor, etc. Though it IS set in the Third Age, presumably.

A/N: Allyson Susan Smith has found herself sucked into the Wheel, this is just me starting up a story, I don't know how far it will go, but I've always wondered "what if one of US ended up there?" My mind thought it would be cool, but hopefully my words convey any possibilities. Suggestions are welcome if you have them, I'm still not /entirely/ sure I know where this is going, but Allyson does and I'll let her guide me.

* * *

Allyson stood in front of the mirror, checking her clothes, makeup, hair… everything had to be perfect before she left her house. Today was her first day of Senior Year in high school and she was going to make it work, no matter how the school system constantly tried to screw her over, no matter how the rest of the school populace despised her, no matter the consequences of her non-existent social life. She would "suck it up and deal with it," as her mother loved to say.

The truth was, she didn't feel comfortable with all the people at school. The cell phones, incessant texting, constant "facebooking," the children who would never grow up. She wouldn't regret not having a social life with those animals. The world was much bigger than they even realized, much bigger than Allyson even realized. One of these days they would wake up and find themselves flipping burgers and wonder where the world went. And Allyson would own a corporation and know where she stood in the world, as a leader and achiever.

Oh no, she wasn't conceited, of course not! Allyson just knew what she wanted and knew what she needed to do to get it. No amount of lollygagging about would achieve a good career, family, house. She was much more than just that. She was-

"Ally! Get your ass down here before I have to drag it down!"

She was delaying. Allyson rushed down the stairs to the voice of her mother, praying her books were all together in her pack and her pens in their case, everything in order. Sometimes she lost her self in thought. It wasn't her fault- well it was, she would have to own up to that _someday_- but thinking was relaxing. She always thought every choice through to a tee and didn't act before thinking. Maybe that was why she was out of place in the world…

"ALLYSON SUSAN SMITH!" She was standing stock-still in the kitchen, her mother staring straight at her.

"Ma'am?"

"Daughter, if you don't get going soon, you'll be late, now GO!"

Allyson gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and rushed out the door. For all her screaming and yelling, Allyson's mother was wonderful to her and cared about her choices. Though she _occasionally_ complained about her lack of friends, boyfriend…. fun, her mother respected her wishes to focus on school work and getting into a good college. Who was going to pay for college if not a scholarship?

Her walk to school was bearable, if troublesome. She got lost thinking about what Mr Turner would teach in Calculus this year and missed her street. Twice. She started debating with herself the pros and cons of studying religion and philosophy in school, then tripped going up the stairs to the building. How could one girl be so absolutely out of place? Or was she just out of her own mind?

* * *

Leaving the building after school, exhausted after a day of "this semester's expectations and rules" speeches, Allyson tried to drag herself home, but inexplicably got lost again. She had walked this trail for _years_ and never had as much trouble as she was now! Allyson chocked it up to the increasing amount of responsibility and pressure of high school, the worries of making it into a good college, the tragedy of being stuck in classes below her level, and the-

Where was she?

Allyson had arrived at a dead end, the street sign she remembered seeing was 22nd Street, but… that wasn't right. If she had already passed 22nd Street she was way past her home. What kept drawing her attention was a stone set in the ground in front of her, standing upright like a pillar, yet connected to nothing but the ground. It had lines of color on it- blue, green, yellow, red, white, gray, and brown. Allyson pondered what they meant then found herself tracing the symbols on the sides of the stone. Tracing… what could they _mean?_ Who put it there? Why was it just sitting in the middle of a dead end concrete road? Tracing…

_There was a flash of light and she saw her entire life: her mother and father when she was a child. Her first Christmas. She saw nine Christmases later when her father walked out of the house on her mother crying by the front door. Allyson saw her first crush… William… and the last time he ever spoke to her before becoming like all the other kids in school…. The time she was tricked into going to a party only to be made a fool of... The terror of being locked in a closet for hours on end, and the fire that started shortly thereafter while she was trapped inside… being rushed to the hospital… the unexplained illness… not getting a date to homecoming… prom… everyone always blamed her for the fire… always made her the social outcast. She didn't want to be with them, no, but just once… she only told herself she didn't like them… she saw the 22__nd__ street sign before finding the dead end.. The Stone… the light._

Allyson woke up in pain on the ground. The rush of memories and something _else_ had happened, but she hadn't really calculated what that meant yet. She rose to her feet to find herself not where she was. Well, not where she was _supposed _to be. She was at the edge of some trees, and there was that Stone again! How- WHAT had happened?

She had a flash of panic. Mother would be making dinner later… _No_, she mustn't think of that. She had to figure out where she was first, and see if there was a way back. She doubted the… Stone… would be of much help and she really didn't want to feel like that ever again. Maybe there was an easier way, maybe…

"ARG! Stupid Allyson! Stop trying to convince yourself of anything!" She only talked to herself when she was truly frustrated. But this place gave her a chance. Maybe… maybe… There wasn't really a maybe anything; she was known for realism and logic, not fantasy and magic, dammit!

Allyson began heading away from the forest and the Stone, mentally marking where it was. If she was going to find a way back, she would have to figure out where she was first.

* * *

Thanks for reading, I'll see where this continues...


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